Spain Arrests Terror Suspect Said to Be Linked to bin Laden

By EMMA DALY

Published: June 23, 2001

MADRID, June 22—
Spanish police officers today arrested an Algerian man who was wanted on terrorism charges in France and Germany, and who is thought to have ties to Osama bin Laden, the Saudi dissident accused by the United States of masterminding the bombings of American Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998.

The police detained the Algerian, Muhammad Bensakhria, in the Mediterranean city of Alicante this afternoon as he left the offices of a telephone company. He put up no resistance, the police said. Tonight, the police said they had also arrested a second person who had been in contact with Mr. Bensakhria, but they gave no further information.

France issued an international arrest warrant for Mr. Bensakhria after the German police broke up a guerrilla group, known as Meliani, in December and found evidence that it planned to bomb Strasbourg Cathedral and a local market. The European Parliament building in Strasbourg was mentioned as another possible target. The police detained four people who they said had received training in weapons and explosives in Afghanistan, but Mr. Bensakhria, sought by Interpol and American intelligence services, managed to flee.

Spain's interior minister, Mariano Rajoy, told reporters that Mr. Bensakhria was ''the Islamic terrorist most wanted by the Western security services in the past few months.'' He added that Mr. Bensakhria was a leader of Al-Qaida, ''the operational arm of the international terrorist network led by Osama bin Laden, whose main objective is to provoke holy war worldwide.''

Mr. Rajoy said the police, acting with Baltasar Garzón, the judge best known for his pursuit of Augusto Pinochet, had followed Mr. Bensakhria's trail since December.

Mr. Bensakhria is to appear on Saturday morning before a judge in Alicante, who will question him about his activities. The police said they did not know how long he had been in Spain. They also said they did not believe that he was planning attacks in the country, but rather hiding out here.

Mr. Rajoy told reporters that Mr. Bensakhria was also connected to radical activists detained in Britain in February, and to the so-called Varese Group of Tunisians, broken up by the Italian police in Milan and Varese in April. He said members of the Varese Group were trained in Afghanistan and sent to Italy on orders from Mr. bin Laden.

The United States has offered a $5 million reward for Mr. bin Laden, who is believed to have been living in Afghanistan under the protection of the leaders of the Taliban movement since he was forced to leave Sudan in 1996. Afghanistan has refused to hand him over, despite the threat of international sanctions.